Here are the 14 rules behind Amazon's brutal workplace

The New York Times just published an in-depth look at some of
the cutthroat tactics Amazon management uses to keep its
employees working hard.

The
article describes a pretty intense workplace — performance
reviews where employees feel they have to "diplomatically throw
people under the bus," for example — and is definitely worth a
read.

Many of Amazon's competitive tactics are guided by what the
company calls its "Leadership Principles."

The 14 rules are an outline for how employees are expected to
think through new ideas and constantly improve the business.

You can find the leadership principles on Amazon's job site, but
we've reposted them below.

Customer Obsession:Leaders start with the
customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and
keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to
competitors, theyobsess over customers.

Ownership: Leaders are owners. They think long
term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results.
They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own
team. They never say “that’s not my job."

Invent and Simplify: Leaders expect and require
innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to
simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from
everywhere, and are not limited by "not invented here." As we do
new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long
periods of time.

Are Right, A Lot: Leaders are right a lot. They
have strong business judgment and good instincts. They seek
diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.

Hire and Develop the Best: Leaders raise the
performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize
exceptional talent and willingly move them throughout the
organization. Leaders develop
leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work
on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like
Career Choice.

Insist on the Highest Standards:Leaders
have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these
standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising
the bar and driving their teams to deliver high quality products,
services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get
sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay
fixed.

Think Big:Thinking small is a
self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold
direction that inspires results. They think differently and look
around corners for ways to serve customers.

REUTERS/Jason
Redmond

Bias for Action: Speed matters in business. Many
decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive
study. We value calculated risk taking.

Frugality: Accomplish more with less.
Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and
invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount,
budget size, or fixed expense.

Learn and Be Curious:Leaders are never
done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are
curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.

Earn Trust:Leaders listen attentively,
speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally
self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing.
Leaders do not believe their or their team's body odor smells of
perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the
best.

Dive Deep:Leaders operate at all levels,
stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are
skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath
them.

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit:Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions
when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or
exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do
not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision
is determined, they commit wholly.

Deliver Results:Leaders focus on the key
inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality
and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the
occasion and never settle.

Despite reports of high turnover rates, Amazon's stock has been
on the rise. The ecommerce giant wowed Wall Street with a
surprise profit in the second quarter, reporting a net income of
$92 million, or 9 cents a share.

This was largely due to the strength of Amazon Web Services and
the site's third-party marketplace,
analysts said.

Amazon
also revealed that it employed 183,100 workers globally
as of the end of the second quarter on June 30.

Reuters

That's an increase of 18,000 people since Q1, not including
contractors or temporary personnel — the biggest quarterly
increase in the company's history. It's also a 38%
increase over the company's headcount at the same time last year,
when it employed a workforce of 132,600 people.

"The vast majority of that is in operations, where
we're adding people for our new [fulfillment centers] and call
centers," Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky
said during the earnings call. "We continue to look for
smart, innovative people who want to build on behalf of
customers."